Childhood Lost

Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).

Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.

Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism

(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)

"What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless."

John Stone,

UK media editor, Age of Autism

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"The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country."

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

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Jan 22, 2018, Philly.com: As budget season nears, school districts face formidable foe: Fixed costs http://www.philly.com/philly/education/in-budget-season-school-districts-face-formidable-foe-fixed-costs-20180122.htmlThe West Chester Area and Upper Darby School Districts operate in separate economic realities: West Chester is among the wealthier districts in the region, while Upper Darby is one of the poorer.
Yet as the school budgeting season gets underway in the coming weeks, they do share one thing in common: Most of the 2018-19 budget already is spoken for.
After fixed costs such as already-negotiated increases in benefits, state-required pension payments, and special-education placements, Pennsylvania school officials say there’s little wiggle room. An Inquirer and Daily News analysis based on data from the state and the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials found that on average, about 85 percent of all costs for the state’s 500 school districts are set before budget hearings even begin. …
Special-education costs also are growing in many Pennsylvania districts, along with charter-school payments in some, …
But the added money is a fraction of the $12 million spending increase Scully forecasts in the $243 million budget, driven by costs including a new teachers’ contract, larger pension contributions, and growth in special education. Even if taxes increase — the board has received exceptions to raise taxes above the state index, to 4.5 percent, largely because of special-education costs — Scully projects a deficit.